Customers pack Conn. gun stores after deal on bill

Published April 02. 2013 2:00PM

Updated April 02. 2013 2:40PM

Customers are packing gun stores around Connecticut, concerned about a bipartisan gun-control agreement reached by state lawmakers that will ban the sale of large-capacity ammunition magazines and more than 100 additional guns.

Ron Rando, owner of Ron’s Guns on Boston Post Road in East Lyme, said his business was “booming.”

How long’s it been booming?

“Since December,” Rando said. “It’s been very busy today.”

Asked what customers were buying, he said, “Ammunition, guns, magazines. They’re buying everything that goes along with shooting.”

Then he had to go.

The parking lot at Hoffman’s Gun Center and Indoor Range in Newington was full Tuesday morning, with some drivers parking their cars on the lawn. Inside, customers waited in long lines to purchase what was left.

Nick Viccione, a gun owner from Wallingford, said people are loading up on ammunition and buying “anything semi-automatic.”

The General Assembly is scheduled to vote today on a wide-ranging bill that addresses the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.